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North Island College hosts annual high school open house

About 1,200 grade 11 students from across North Vancouver Island came to Courtenay for the event

North Island College’s Comox Valley campus played host to roughly 1,200 secondary school students on Thursday, Feb. 15 at its annual high school open house.

Grade 11 students travelled from across North Vancouver Island to attend. Participating schools came from Parksville, Qualicum Beach, the Comox Valley, Campbell River, Zaballos, Port Hardy and Port McNeil.

Kathleen Kuhnert, NIC’s director of student services and registrar, said the annual event aims to show grade 11 students what post-secondary education has to offer.

“We want to plant some seeds, get students thinking about what they want to do in the future,” she said.

“There is life after high school, so we’re doing our part to connect them with instructors, learn about our programs and courses that we offer.”

Video by Scott Strasser

The half-day event included speeches and panel sessions, as well as demonstrations by NIC instructors and students in fields such as chemistry, biology, fine arts, and pottery.

“We have our trades, our humanities [instructors] doing a session on false news. There’s just so many options,” said Kuhnert. “Having the opportunity to be in a class, meet our instructors, hear about what it is they do in their areas — that’s the main point of the event.”

Ronen Navo, a Grade 11 student from GP Vanier Secondary School in Courtenay, said he enjoyed the event and was excited to see what classes are available at NIC.

“There’s a vast variety of options here, considering it’s such a small school,” he said, adding he’s currently interested in studying business.

Attendees also received free coffee and pizza.